air force one in austria. ashton's fall much gentler, now a treasured brush with white house fame. >> she'll be able to look back and say i was at the white house and got a chance to have a very special moment. >> that was major garrett reporting, so cute. even though dad is from alabama and mom is from texas, the gardner family now lives in germantown, maryland. we begin with wusa9 news at 6:00 continuing with the coverage of our breaking news of the evening, former south african president nelson mandela passed on. he was 95 and he had been in ill health for some months now. >> the country's current president jacob zuma made the sad announcement a little over an hour ago. >> south africans, nelson mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation has

departed. this is the moment of our deepest sorrow. our nation has lost its greatest son. >> a short time ago president obama had this to say about nelson mandela from the white house. >> his journey from a prisoner to a president embodied the promise that human beings and countries can change for the better. his commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives of nations or our own personal lives. the fact that he did it all with grace and with humor and an ability to acknowledge his own imperfections only makes the man that much more remarkable. >> the president went on to say he didn't think it was likely

we'd see mandela's like again. joining us now via telephone is former d.c. mayor, current council member marion barry who was i think you were mayor still when nelson mandela was released from prison in 1992. am i correct, mr. mayor? >> absolutely, derek. my relationship goes before then, one thanksgiving day we sat in at the south african embassy on massachusetts avenue starting a whole movement and on april 4th of thsame year out of that 5,000 d.c. government employees off on administrative leave to go protest and my wife said they were arrested and the first time nelson mandela was freed and came to washington he was

my guest. i met him over at the convention center for a big rally movement, gave him keys to the city and so he meant a lot to me, not just as a heroic person, but personally. then in august of last 2006 mayor williams took a delegation to south africa and i visited his home and on that wall was a proclamation from me to him and so we go back. mandela was remarkable. anybody who has been in jail for 27 years and not come out bitter is a big man. i doubt if i could do that. stay in jail for 27 years and come out and be better and not bitter. >> i suppose that's why people

marvel so much about nelson mandela's personal character. councilman barry, when you think back on the life of nelson mandela and i guess specifically about what he means to you, what did he leave with you when he came here and you went there? what will you take away from his life? >> well, first of all, it takes courage for any leader to do what he did, takes courage to leave a and c for a minute, to go out and fight in the bush and they come back and then to be held even after that and also this means that he had strong character, resilience and tenacity and faith in god. those are the kind of things that he and i talked about when i talked to him. he was inspiring. he was encouraging. he was never negative about his

benefactors, about those who locked him up. he was always positive about that. he was a role model, what you can do if you endure, if you have to stay in the fight and come out and be from prison to president. that's quite a thing, from prison to president, of a great nation south africa and it's just so inspiring to be in his presence and even now when i think about him, i'm teared up. my eyes are wet from emotion really and while i was in south africa in august of '06 mayor williams and i met about the same time at the cell on the island where he had been kept by his slave master and so it's personal with me. >> i think a whole lot of washingtonians and people all over the world tonight feel

exactly the same way, mayor marion barry, council member from ward 8, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you, derek. >> we appreciate your remembrances of nelson mandela who we have noted died today at age 95. >> he was an incredible ambassador for peace and love around the world. nelson mandela's impact, we can't even really sum it up in words when you think about what he means to the world. >> yeah. we cannot sum it up, but renee marsh will look back at how he helped break down the racial barriers that had been built in south africa. >> reporter: nelson mandela's extraordinary life began in a tiny village in the south african trend sky, he joined the south african congress, an organization that would ultimately change his life and of that his country. >> the africans prior want the franchise on the basis of one man, one vote. they want political independence. >> reporter: but in the 1950s

and '60s the realities of white domination in south africa made that dream unattainable. the african national congress formed an armed resistance to the apartheid system. >> there are many people who fear that it is useless and futile for us to continue talking peace and nonviolence. >> reporter: mandela was arrested charged with tree son and sentenced to life in piz -- treason and sentenced to life in prison. calls for his release echoed around the world. >> the government has taken a firm decision to release mr. mandela. >> reporter: finally after 27 years in prison at age 71 he was free. in the years following his release mandela went on to win a nobel peace prize and was elected south africa's first black president. [ cheering and applause ] >> reporter: served as

president until 1999 when he announcement his retirement. >> don't call me. i'll call you. >> reporter: despite health problems his retirement years were busy as he worked on behalf of charities and campaigned tirelessly to bring the world cup soccer tournament to his beloved nation. in the summer of 2010 mandela saw that dream realized. his life was a series of battles, but in an interview on his 90th birthday he said he'd do it all again. >> i don't regret it because the things that affected me were things that pleased my soul. >> reporter: i'm renee marsh reporting. >> now, of course, whenever something like this happens, tributes pour in from around the world and, of course, the death of nelson mandela is no different, a lot of folks with a lot to say tonight. >> absolutely. we have the story live from the south african embassy where a statue of mandela went up

earlier this year. >> reporter: a few south african natives have come out to pay tribute to the fallen leader. one man who grew up in south africa born and raised there, a resident of the united states told me, "we lost a great man today. the world lost the greatest man." the statue put up this fall was dedicated and stands outside the embassy on mass avenue, a main corridor where tens of thousands of people drive by daily. it's an exact replica of the statue that stands outside the prison where mandela spent 27 years of his life as a political prisoner. you look at it and obviously it speaks to different people in difference ways, but really a symbol of strength and power and unity, ideals mandela spent his whole life peacefully fighting for. you heard former mayor marion barry talk about the history just outside the south african embassy here where protests happened many years ago

spurring anti-apartheid sanctions against south africa. those happened here and that ultimately helped lead to the release of mandela from prison. also obviously a whole lot of history here. that's why we're expecting a lot of folks to come out here and pay their tribute. the more that people learn about this this evening, they're probably coming home from work now just finding out about the news. so we are seeing more people start to come out here and begin to pay respects. it's probably going to be a busy night outside the south african embassy here. >> he was clearly an incredible being. >> his impact spread far and wide. we'll have more on the death of nelson mandela at wusa9 news at 7:00. in the meantime that d.c. police officer charged in that shocking child pornography case has been ordered released to electronically monitored home detention, but that hour has been stayed for 20 hour hours so prosecutors can appeal. >> the search warrant was

issued today to scour the cell phone and police officer of 7th district police officer marc washington who was charged monday with allegedly using his police powers to coerce a 15- year-old run-away girl to submit to sexually explicit photographs. washington apparently told the girl he needed the pictures to identify her if she ever left home again. prosecutors say there is evidence that at least three other girls may have been abused in similar fashion. right now police are investigating a second officer for possible sexual misconduct. >> federal documents unsealed in court today revealed d.c. police are investigating that other officer who is accused of running a prostitution ring out of his southeast d.c. apartment. they searched that part. but have yet to make the arrest. however, with two egregious allegations now in just one week we have to wonder is something going wrong again at the d.c. police department? bruce leshan is looking into it. he talked to union officials who tell him the cops are nabbing an officer every other

week for crimes ranging from dui on up to murder. >> reporter: murder, allegations of child abuse, shakedowns of prostitutes, d.c. police officers from detectives to captains to beat cops are committing crimes in shocking numbers. a washington examiner analysis of data last year found police had arrested more than 90 mpd officers in just 3 1/2 years. charles ramsey leads a force with thousands more officers in philadelphia, but he saw about half as many ofthose officers arrested. >> so right there there's an indication because of the size of the police departments and the number of people arrested there's a problem in washington d.c. >> reporter: chief cathy lanier released a statement saying she is very concerned about the latest allegations of egregious conduct including the child abuse charges against 7th district officer marc

washington. >> you have to take a close look at whether it's a bad apple or we have a bad system in place. >> that was bruce leshan reporting. the police union says it is a bad system. there's bad recruiting, bad standards, bad internal affairs investigations according to them. the chief says her department regularly audits and investigates officers' conduct on and off duty and officers put their lives on the line every day and that she says is not going to change. well, after milder than normal temperatures the messy stuff is headed our way. first alert chief meteorologist topper shutt is in the weather center with the forecast. >> hard to believe we were near 70 today and we're talking about ice sunday, red alert now for sunday. storm is now snowing in st. louis. this is the ribbon, the pink, the transitioning between snow and rain. that means sleet and freezing rain. this is right along the ohio river. we just have showers to our west. we're okay another few hours, but the showers back in toward

hagerstown and down toward cumberland and elkins will roll in here late tonight setting the stage for a yellow alert tomorrow for two wet commutes. 63 downtown, gaithersburg, 64 manassas, how could we be talking about sleet or snow over the weekend? this is how. 3 below in bismarck, 25 chicago, 31 in dallas. they were in the 60s just a day ago. so the last bit of warm air in the east will be squeezed out of here in the next couple days. we'll talk about that in greater detail

get ready to start digging deeper into your buses and pockets to ride the metrobuses and trains next year. >> reporter: riders are not thrilled about news of a fare hike. >> i seen that on the news, but what can you do? i expected it. you expect that from metro, right? >> reporter: today general manager richard sarles unveiled his plan. come july if approved it would cost you an average of 15 cents more to take a bus, a dime higher to ride the rails and a quartz more positive park. the hikes -- more to park. the hikes would raise $30 million a year in revenue. the board countered with five alternate fare hike plans. november saw delays, frustration, breakdowns and this. >> i know the commute for our red line riders has been really

bad. >> basically the service issues are to get them ready for the fare increase? >> the reason i apologized is because we did not respond as well as we should have. >> reporter: metro will hold several public hearings before they make any decisions and once they do the rate increases won't take place until july. at gallery place, debra alfarone, wusa9. pepco is asking for its third rate hike in two years. the power company filed a request with the maryland public service commission to raise rates by $43.3 million. so that's an average of about $4.80 a month per customer in montgomery and prince george's counties. pepco is also seeking a $44 million rate increase in the district. the utility says its request is justified because of its improved performance, declining power outages

let's get right to it. we need a timeline to sunday. let's go from thursday to sunday. >> okay, fine. sunday morning i think we'll see snow break out across most of the metro area about 10:00 or so. that snow will go to mix and stay a mix all day sunday d.c. north and west. you won't get above freezing

until sunday night. let's start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam. we were 69 today, the record high 75. relative humidity very high, 81%, winds out of the south, southwest at 11. that will keep the warm air in place all night. here's the radar, showers to the west. you get to the ohio river valley and back into oklahoma. you've got snow and ice. this is heading our way. not a case where it will miss us unfortunately. it will slowly creep up on us by sunday. snow in st. louis, but this is all the ice in through northwestern arkansas and there are ice storm warnings all the way down to west tennessee. showers hagerstown west, a few more hours before these get in, probably not till after midnight, 6 degrees in minneapolis, 3 below in bismarck. you can see this is pretty serious arctic air. we can go from the 60s to the 30s in a couple days and end up with sleet, snow and freezing rain. that will happen. a lot of these cities have already done that from dallas to kansas city to chicago.

every one of those cities were in the 50s or 60s the day before the ice and snow hit. we're still 63, 50 in boston. so yellow alert friday, red alert on sunday for ice, wet commutes tomorrow. so the yellow alert is for the wet commutes, the rain and showers. turning cooler tomorrow, so dress for the 40s because when you step out the door, you'll be in the 50s. saturday cold air moves in and then sunday morning snow and mix, mix all day d.c. north and west. it's not going to change. watch these temps. they fall tomorrow starting out near 60. they go to 51 by 1:00 and then by saturday just a morning shower, 46 and then snow to a mix sunday, red alert because of that, temperatures struggle to get above freezing all day, probably will not make it above freezing d.c. north and west until sunday night when temperatures begin to rise. we're okay monday morning and monday, back around 50 with showers, maybe some showers ending as flurries tuesday, then colder wednesday and

thursday. the toughest thing about the forecast, i'm pretty confident what's going to fall, but i'm unsure what 69 degrees does to the roads by sunday. that's a tough call. >> let's hope it makes it better. >> got all day fun for sunday. we've got to take a minute to remind you how easy it is to help needy kids and families this holiday season. >> with just the click of a button you can give a gift, donate or send a holiday message from anywhere with our wusa9 joy drive. between now and mid-december log onto www.wusa9.com/givejoy to learn exactly how to give joy this holiday season. we'll be right bac

that's all for wusa9 news at 6:00. stay with us for the cbs evening news coming next. >> we leave you with a look back at the late nelson mandela's life in photos. the pain started up the back of my head

and wrapped around to the front. i couldn't play my bassoon because of the pressure that i felt throughout my whole head. the blistering and the rash was moving down towards my eye. the doctors at the emergency room recommended that i have it checked out by an eye doctor.

there was concern about my eyesight. when i had shingles the music stopped.

>> pelley: tonight remembering a giant. >> a time for the healing of the wounds has come. >> pelley: late today we learned of the death of nelson mandela, the man who lead south africa from apartheid to a multiracial democracy. >> he no longer belongs to us. he belongs to the ages. >> pelley: from johannesburg. an american is gunned down in benghazi, libya. was it terrorism, bob orr is covering. snow, ice and bitter cold stretch across half the nation. manual bojorquez on what it is hitting and where it is going. and the special bond